Life's a Beach.....Virus!

Sparing you all the gory details, let's just say, all was well Monday at bedtime and it hasn't been well since, well, for Camryn that is. The poor thing has been sick, very sick, sicker than I've ever seen either of the kids.

I've always had a "wait and see"attitude when it comes to visiting the doctor. I've been burned too many times by those words "it's just a virus, it'll have to run it's course"- that'll be $75 dollars please.

I certainly wasn't ready to rush off to the Brazilian doctor over a tummy upset and a low grade fever...until day four rolled around, three sleepless nights had passed, and loads and loads of laundry had been hung to dry. This wasn't running the course fast enough for me.

The good news- we had received our international health care cards days earlier, hoping to put them away, never to be used.

The bad news- we have no doctors in Brazil yet, hoping to wait until we spoke a little Portuguese.

The crazy news- when you're sick in Brazil, unexpectedly, you just go to the hospital emergency room.

Now we all know what the emergency rooms in the US are like, the hours you wait to be seen, the "patients" you witness while you wait. It can sometimes look like a horror show, especially to a four year old who hasn't eaten or slept in three days. I avoid the emergency room in English, but I was terrified of the emergency room in Brazil.

Fortunately my fear of a dehydrated daughter was greater than my fear of blood and guts, so off we went to Albert Einstein Hospital, the largest hospital in Brazil and the best hospital in South America (so we've been told). I do need to add here, that David took the day off work, unasked, without a word of how hard it would be to reschedule all his meetings. He knew I couldn't handle all this on my own. He never considered letting me.

Lucky for us, the hospital is very close to the apartment and some of the directional signs on the campus were also in English, so we felt we had gotten close to the right place. One other great thing about Brazil, there are valets everywhere you go. Pull up, get out and hand over the keys.

Once inside, we approached a 40 ft reception desk and used our best opening line "Falla Ingles?". It serves two purposes, they know we don't speak the language, and they find someone who speaks English. We were immediately ushered to an information desk where a lovely girl inquired what was wrong and escourted us through the hospital. David and I are repeatedly amazed at the compassionate treatment we receive as foreigners. We often wonder if non-English speakers would be treated as kindly in the US.

After an elevator, sky-walk, several turnstiles, and long hallways, we arrived at the dreaded "Emergency Room". Wait, this can't be the right place. Where's all the moaning humanity, the blood soaked bandages, the screaming children? This looks like a Doctor's office, and a peaceful one at that. Again the lovely girl found another English speaker to hand us off to and the official visit began. It went like this.

Desk One: name of patient and type of emergency (took two minutes).

Waiting Area One : sit down and get right back up for triage nurse.

Triage Nurse : Took Camryn's temperature, pulse, weight, and asked a few questions about symptoms, then asked us "Have you been to the beach?". Did I hear her correctly? I repeat the Portuguese word for beach to be sure I understand the question. "Yes, beach." Yes we have been to the beach. "Ok follow me." she says. But wait, what's the beach have to do with it? My kids wore sunscreen, I swear. It can't be heat stroke or sun poisoning. They were fine. This step took about five minutes.

Desk Two: More detailed information about insurance, address, phone. Gee, you actually see a nurse before you fill out all paperwork. What a concept, since it's a little hard to concentrate when you're having a heart attack. This was the longest process, but a very short wait time in US standards, maybe twenty minutes.

Now we wait (in a waiting area specifically for kids, that looked more like a pre-school classroom than a hospital) for our number to come up on a digital board, telling us which examination room to proceed to. Wait time - five minutes.

Proceed into examination area where I'm expecting curtain contained beds in one big room. No such thing. Actual rooms, with doors, private bathrooms, and the Dr.'s Desk, with the actual Dr. sitting there waiting for us. Again, we think, we can't be in the right place. We were. The Dr. first talked with us for a bit about symptoms and then the question "Have you been to the beach?". Yes we have. And apparently we brought home a Summer beach regular, the dreaded Beach Virus. Who knew. Well we do now.

After examining Camryn, the Dr. determined that she wasn't dehydrated yet, but that she needed fluids and fast. Thankfully, instead of an IV, she opted for a anti-vomitting medication to allow Camryn to take in fluids orally. At this point, I'm thinking, now pharmacy, medicine, wait to see if it works and maybe another trip to the hospital if it doesn't. Not in Brazil.

Off we go to another room. If you've had chemo, it looks like that. Nice comfy recliners, IV stands, TV, refrigerator. In comes a nurse with the pill, gives to Camryn and we're sent back to the fun room to wait. All's well 40 minutes later and out comes the nurse with a snack tray for Camryn. Not just a juice box and a pack of crackers either. Several juices, and a variety of cookies and crackers. If she can keep this down for an hour, we're free to go. Yeah, it works.

Another consultation with the Dr. in which we get a prescription for more magic pills and we're out of there. A very pleasant experience really. I was the most relaxed I'd been in days, sitting in that room, waiting and seeing. When we talked to the Dr. at the end, we discussed how we should proceed if the kids get sick unexpectedly in the future. "Come here" she said. "This is the best place". Well Dr., I have to say I agree with you. And I know where we won't be going this weekend- To the beach. Don't go the big beaches in January and February we now hear. The virus goes too, and it loves to catch a ride back with the kids.

P.S. Camryn is now doing fine, mostly worn out. And even after all this, I'm still loving Brazil.

Language Barrier

To say that not speaking Portuguese while living in Brazil has been the biggest challenge is really to say that all challenges have stemmed from not speaking Portuguese while living in Brazil. Before moving here, we made a weak effort to get going on Rosetta Stone, but quite honestly, the practical vocabulary of a first timer wasn't on the agenda until much further into the program. Time ran out before I got that far. I can say "black dog, blue fish, and slacks". Who uses the word slacks in any language? Needless to say, other than the zoo and the dry cleaners, my Rosetta Stone hasn't been the biggest help.

What I kept myself from thinking about in all the chaos of moving, was just how oppressive a language barrier can be. It has caused tension between David and I, made the kids bored, caused us to break condo rules, and to spend more money than we had to.

First off, the tension between David and I. He goes to work everyday where he speaks English to all English speaking coworkers. When encountering a problem that needs Portuguese, he has a staff of bi-lingual helpers to work out the details. Great for him. In the mean time, I'm home all day with the kids, restricted to drive on Monday and Tuesday due to Sao Paulo traffic control logs, and unable to answer the Portiere when he calls. I should say, I answer, but he speaks less English than I do Portuguese so he usually just hangs up. Do I have a package waiting, a guest at the gate, or is the building on fire?

If it's really important, a Visteon HR person usually calls with the interpretation. Thank goodness for Elaine. She may save my marriage yet.

Visteon has been great at taking care of a lot of business for us since we've been here. They've arranged for all our services to be set up, took David shopping for appliances, helped call a plumber, and dealt with the doorman at the apartment. The fact that I can't do any of that without help is driving me crazy. Which brings me to my big stress of the week-SCHOOL.

We are so excited to get the kids back in school and can't wait for Monday the 31st when it finally resumes. The stress - they do not have a way to get there and they do not have anything to wear. We ordered their uniforms, but have yet to hear from the store. In the US, I would just call the store and check on the status. Here, I can only ask David to ask Elaine to call and check on the status. It's like a grown-up game of "telephone". By the time the answer gets back to me, it's riddled with misinterpretation and vagueness. Same with the bus. The kids will take a bus to school that is contracted through their school, but we have to call and set it up. Fortunately, while I've been writing this, David called to tell me that the bus was set -up. They'll call me Thursday to let me what time the kids will be picked up. I hope they don't hang up when I say hello. At least David has one thing off his "need an Portuguese translator" list.

The boredom of the kids is a subject that stems from circumstances as well as our illiteracy in Brazil. We've been out of school since December 17, living in a hotel for 18 days, and now our Sao Paulo apartment with sparse furnishings to say the least. In the US, we could go to a movie, visit with friends, go shopping, take some excursions. None of those are options here. The only recreation we have during the week is the pool and the unusually wet season has limited that option. To take away from the options, the movies here are in Portuguese, we haven't made friends yet, David has put a freeze on shopping for fun, and it's too dangerous for the kids and I to cruise around town until we get more familiar. Some days just need a good fight to give us something to do. And there's plenty of arguing in English going on.

On a more light note, our inability to read and communicate has allowed us to use the pool when it's closed for cleaning and several times I have ordered a beer and got two instead. We did have big problems at Sam's Club on Sunday, but the little Portuguese I did understand and the little more I spoke enabled us to leave with our huge purchase.

Another funny note about the Brazilians, they always speak to me while we are out and about. David will say something, the person will look confused, look to me, I'll say the same thing, and we'll get what we want. It's really pretty funny. Maybe my Brazilian looks overshadow my bad Portuguese. I just don't think they can see David through all his "blondness", a very rare trait here in Sao Paulo.

So today we start our last vacation week with a lot on the "loose ends" list, most needing to be tied up by someone other than me. If that's not motivation to learn this language, nothing else is.

Now if i can just get someone to call the Portuguese teacher for me, oh yeah and the bus driver, the Ballet school, the Ecofit Club, the bank, tell me which melons to buy, what Tylenol is in Portuguese, and take me for a haircut ( just a trim, por favor).

Miss, (Not), Love

As of today, we've been in Brazil 19 days. The experts say it takes 21 days to form a habit and I think we're just about there. Our days have found a disjointed pattern dictated by the weather and weekday. Good weather and (not Monday or Thursday morning), we eat and go to the pool. Bad weather, we eat and clean and play computer games. Once in a while we head out to the grocery store. Most days, I fit in some kind of exercise and Aidan and I both spend time reading too.

All that is about to change on the 31st, when the kids start school after Summer break. Until then, we're living in a sort of limbo, creating bad habits we'll have to soon break.

In our brief time here, I've kept an open mind and put my thoughts into three categories- What I Miss, What I Do NOT Miss, and What I Love....about my life in Brazil. Here goes:

What I Miss

My stuff. As most of you have heard, it will take up to six months to get out things shipped and cleared through customs. I miss having my own dishes, gadgets, cooking utensils, vacuum, and plain old rags.

Sudsing detergent. I don't know why, but nothing lathers up here, not dish soap, laundry soap, multi purpose cleaner. I really want some bubbles.

Garbage disposal. Having to scrape food into the garbage is something I'm not used to. Worse is having to empty the sink drain of all the food particles that sneak through. YUCK!

Water conserving shower head. I feel so wasteful every time I take a shower with this gigantic rain shower head. I don't even want to know how many gallons go down the drain.

Ziploc bags. They have a version here, but they're more expensive than buying glass storage containers.

Getting the mail. We get very little mail and the postal service here operates like the Pony Express. I miss my catalogues.

The neighborhood kids ringing the doorbell. I'm not sure if I miss them for me, or for Aidan and Camryn. There doesn't seem to be many kids in this apartment, though most Brazilians are still on vacation. I'd love to have some kids running through my house.

Going out for breakfast. Brazilians don't eat breakfast like Americans. I'd give anything for a Waffle House, IHOP, or Cracker Barrel about now. We may have to venture to the Marriot to have someone cook us some eggs.

Things I Do Not Miss (that I thought I would)

Cream in my coffee. I've started drinking it black again, or sometimes with hot milk.

American brand foods. Although you can get some recognizable brands, they are so expensive that I've tried to buy all Brazilian, which I've found to be as good or better. There's still nothing like a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos when you're feeling homesick though.

A clothes dryer. This one is a shock. We had every intention of getting one, but the store was sold out, so we had to wait two weeks. Now I'm not sure we'll ever get one. The clothes need no ironing and smell so fresh. The towels have a different texture, not so fluffy, but even that has become normal. I haven't decided 100% yet, but I'm willing to try for a while. Plus it's a good arm workout hanging all those clothes.

A backyard. I was very nervous about living on the 17th floor and not being able to put my feet on the ground, but I actually love the privacy. No one walks by the window, no one catches me sun bathing unawares, we don't have to water or mow. I'm thinking this will change eventually, but maybe I was more of a city girl than I thought.

Air conditioning. We live in a million dollar apartment and have no air and I love it. The design is such that every room has cross ventilation and the breezes blow through all day. I haven't slept better than I do here.

Things I LOVE.

The food. Everything tastes "more". The eggs taste more eggy, the butter more buttery, the tomatoes have flavor, the cucumber smell like cucumbers, the meat is lean and flavorful. The breads are bakery fresh. Very little is processed or chemically enhanced. It's amazing how much flavor is lost to preservatives.

The coffee. Need I say more? Coffee is an institution. It is rarely drank "to go". In fact, I haven't seen one cup of coffee in a disposable cup since I've been here. I had the best cup of coffee of my life the other night- at a pizzeria!

The beer. Beer is like water here. People drink it anytime of the day, but not to get drunk. It is served often in large bottles, brought to table in a chiller and is meant to be shared. Even cans of beer are poured into everyone's small glasses and then another one opened. I love the art of Brazilian beer drinking.

The people. They are so eager to help. They are very loving, passionate, and able to show their emotions easily.

The service. People in Brazil take pride in their work, whether they serve food at McDonald's or sweep the street. We have had the best service in restaurants and there is no excessive tipping. A 10% tip is included in the bill and it is very rare to add any additional. Brazilians traveling in the States must be shocked when they go out to eat.

The pride people take in their appearance. Woman especially, do not go out in their sweatpants or exercise clothes. They always are very put together, yet wear very little make-up.

The love of curves. Woman in Brazil have beautiful bodies, but they're not skinny or even very athletic looking. Most have dynamite curves and love to show off in their skimpy bikinis. The beach is quite a people watching place, but not if you're appalled by unperfect people. In Brazil, everyone seems to think they're perfect. No self conscious woman here.

I think I could go on and on about all the things I love, kinda like a Bride talking about her Husband on her Honeymoon. And like newlyweds, I'm sure the mad love for Brazil will wear off and settle into normalcy.

This time next year, I'll probably be longing for the smell of cut grass, the chill of stale air, be sick of the view, crave Velveeta, and long for a rude waiter asking "What do ya' want?" in English.

Yesterday was MLK day in the USA. It was just a normal Monday here, but I posted a portion of the "I Have a Dream" speech that really resonates with me and the life I live.

"We cannot walk alone. As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back." MLK

Whatever I miss, love, never care to have again, I'm not feeling it alone. For the family's sake, I have to keep the love for life in front of me, and always look forward to what's next. I can't look back to life in the United States and long for what was.

I will march forward in Brazil and try to live a dream. So far it's been easy.

The Mall

Well, no such luck with the zoo, so we did what all Paulistanos do when it rains...we went to the mall. First lesson learned, the malls do not operate on set hours and all retailers open when they choose. In addition, Sunday hours do not begin until 2pm. Since we arrived around 12, for the first time in my life, I was a "mall walker". It allowed us to explore what the mall, Villa Lobos, had to offer.

Basically you could go to the mall for almost everything. They have banks, travel agencies, dry cleaners, drug stores, beauty salons, photo shops, hardware stores, electronics, appliances, toys,and of course FASHION. David has already warned me not to spend too much time shopping when I'm bored. The prices are outrageous. Although most are Brazilian brands, I made note of some popular American ones. Here are some examples: Levis $190, Reeboks $200, Nike exercise cami $120. My new kindle was $500. On the other hand, swim wear is reasonable. I noticed many bikinis under $50, although this may be due to small amount of fabric needed in construction. We will be setting some shopping time and money aside for our next trip to the USA.

One other major difference in the mall was the lack of anchor department stores. The whole mall was specialty shops. There are several malls a short distance from the apartment, one being very upscale with many international designers like Prada, Chanel, Tiffany, Ralph Lauren. Although I've never been a mall goer, it's a very safe place to spend time when there's nothing else to do (or you want Burger King, McDonalds, or Subway, all which can be found in the fancy food court.)

Today the kids and I will spend the day at the apartment, while David experiences his first day at the office. It looks like the sun might peek out and we'll be able to swim and relax by the pool. Although every day here has felt like an episode of the "Amazing Race", everyday we've gotten more comfortable in our surroundings. If things got no better, I could easily drive to the grocer, the gas station, the mall, 100's of restaurants and shops, and feel relatively safe. This small neighborhood we chose is ten times bigger with more to offer, than the small city we left behind. We ventured out for Mexican last night and it was the best I've had in years, and we had thirteen mexican restaurants to choose from within 5 miles of the apartment. I'm waiting for the reality to set in and the panic to take over, but right now I think I was made to be a city girl. I'm going to enjoy it before the walls start closing in.

Upon Landing in Brazil

After a smooth trip to the airport, thanks to my Mom and Brother in Law, we departed Detroit with 11 check-in bags labeled "heavy", 8 allowed carry-ons, 1 baby doll, and a car seat. The kids were awake for two of the ten and a half hour flight and woke to breakfast and the initial descent into Sao Paulo. We breezed through immigration and emerged into the crazy baggage claim of Guarulhos International Airport. Camryn and I set up home base while David and Aidan went to get the luggage. After 30 minutes of fighting for position, they retrieved 10 of the 11 bags. This is when the fun began. One hour later, with a claim filed, we proceded through customs, hoping the Visteon representative had not left us at the airport. Nelson was waiting and led us outside to our bus, yes bus. We enjoyed the drive to the apartment where we turned the corner to discover that the street was closed for a market. The bus backs up the street which is Sao Paulo's equivalent of San Francisco and around the block we go to meet the relocation representative. Upon entering the apartment complex, we see a familiar face, the girl who sat next to David on the plane. Her Mother lives in our building. This was mind blowing considering the city is 20 million people. Up the service elevator we go, five people and five bags to emerge to a door that will not unlock. Back down we go to the social elevator. Up we go again and finally get into the apartment. It is all that we remember minus the scary man sculpture hanging from the ceiling and the views are more breathtaking than we remember. After a few more funny mishaps, like David getting stuck in the elevator, a trip to Walmart, driving in circles a few times, we had our first home made dinner in Sao Paulo, PB&J sandwiches and potato chips.

In spite of having no appliances (or air conditioning), we're amazingly comfortable here. We've eaten at several excellent restaurants, shopped at the amazing mall, swam in our pool, explored our neighborhood, and got an invitation to dinner from an extremely rich German man who thought David and the kids were Arian.

We spent New Years Eve at home. As darkness fell over the city, of which we have 360 degree views, the fireworks started. David and I shared a bottle of champaigne watched the city flash with life. I wish I could say I made it to midnight, but I'm still catching upon rest. It didn't matter though because when the clock struck twelve, the sky exploded in all directions with the biggest displays of fireworks I've ever seen. I kissed David Happy New Year and fell right back to sleep, feeling more content than I have in a long time. Maybe it's because I feel that 2011 will be the best ever or maybe it's because I have no expectations for once. The only resolution I have is to embrace the Brazilian way and learn Portuguese enough to survive. Tomorrow we're venturing to the zoo where we hope to encounter lots of exotic creatures and another human being who speaks English. They're a very rare breed here. Happy New Year everyone.

Note: I'm posting this on someones unlocked wifi. Hopefully they won't catch us for a while.